SOUTH AFRICA: MBA plan 'not a downgrade'

The debate in South Africa over the academic status of a master of business administration degree was about a 'technical issue', rather than downgrading the qualification, Council for Higher Education CEO Ahmed Essop said last week, writes Karl Gernetzky for Business Day.

The council's proposal that an MBA be classified as a postgraduate diploma, no longer as a postgraduate degree, has elicited dismay from business schools. In 2008 business schools proposed that the qualification be upgraded to masters degree level. Essop said the council was concerned about the tension between the status of an MBA under the proposed Higher Education Qualifications Framework and the special nature of an MBA, an issue that required further debate.

But Gordon Institute for Business Executive Director Nick Binedell said placing an MBA on the same level as an honours degree or postgraduate diploma would be detrimental to South Africa's education system and economy. The MBA had been accepted internationally as a masters degree, and accepted as not fitting neatly within the educational hierarchy, Binedell said.
Full report on the Business Day site